Tag Archives: greed

Cinema, Reviews

CINEMA REVIEW: HOUSE OF GUCCI (2021)

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CINEMA REVIEW: HOUSE OF GUCCI (2021)

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Screenplay by: Becky Johnston, Roberto Bentivegna

Based on: The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden

Produced by: Ridley Scott, Giannina Scott, Kevin J. Walsh, Mark Huffam

Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, Al Pacino etc.

Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski

*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

I’m not a fan of fashion. I wear clothes obviously and like to be smart and clean. Yet, the idea of believing one’s garments, shoes and accessories mean you are important, superior or worthy of adulation sickens me to be honest. However, fashion is a multi-billionaire industry and I get that people of variant social standing love it as a cultural phenomena. People either own or aspire to own over-valued garments and objects to inflate their ego or sense of importance is beyond me. Then again, I passionately enjoy watching human beings kick a ball into a net, so everyone has irrational passions. C’est la vie!

I didn’t go to see House of Gucci (2021) to look at the clothes though. My interest in this star-studded, big budget crime drama directed by the legend, Ridley Scott, was more because I did not know anything about the lives and personalities within the Gucci empire. Who would have thought that a wealthy family unit could have turned out so poisoned by greed and envy?

Covering a period of twenty or so years from the late 1970s into the 1990s, the story is structured around the relationship between Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) and Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver). They fall passionately is lust, much to the chagrin of his spiteful father (Jeremy Irons) and marry against his will. Patrizia genuinely loves the sensitive Maurizio, but also has green eyes for the Gucci empire and the power that can bring. As her desire for influence in the family business grows, then so does cracks in their marriage. Crumbling relationships, business chicanery and family treachery dominate the narrative, all coming to a head with tragic results.

As a morality tale about how greed corrupts and drives human beings toward unnecessary tragedy, The House of Gucci (2021) is certainly worth a watch. Is there a sense the Gucci family were cursed by there wealth. Perhaps? But the film and screenplay as a whole present this theme without really drawing them out to full dramatic effect. However, the cast are absolutely fantastic throughout with Al Pacino, Adam Driver, and Lady Gaga on particularly exceptional form. Jared Leto dominates many scenes with his bald head, extra weight and screechy voice. While entertaining, the director could have reigned Leto in slightly to extract more pathos from the sad clown that is represented in Paulo Gucci.

I had a few issues with The House of Gucci (2021) inasmuch as it felt incomplete. At times it was as though I was watching a test screening version. The transitions between years were often confusing. What year is it, Ridley? Adam Driver’s arc from likeable young academic to selfish adulterer was rushed and unearned. I got the evocation of a Fredo and Michael Corleone dynamic between Maurizio and Paulo, but this really could have been developed further. The cinematography was grey and dull with the natural lighting style working against the expected colour and vibrancy of the 1980s era. I also wondered if the film had been graded?

While watching The House of Gucci (2021) I just kept thinking of more superior crime and gangster films. It is also mildly disrespectful to a genius like Ridley Scott to say Martin Scorsese would have knocked this story out of the park. I truly felt, while Lady Gaga was excellent in her role, her character could have been written and given a voice-over up there with that of Henry Hill’s. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the film but wonder if there is a director’s cut out there which doesn’t feel rush released. Or even the possibility HBO or Showtime may adapt it into a longer drama series in time. Yet, does one want to spend more time with such avaricious and vain characters? Depends who is telling the story I guess.

Mark: 7.5 out of 11

Amazon Prime, Cinema, Reviews

AMAZON FILM REVIEW – I CARE A LOT (2020)

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AMAZON FILM REVIEW – I CARE A LOT (2020)

Directed by: J Blakeson

Produced by: Teddy Schwarzman, Ben Stillman, Michael Heimler, J Blakeson

Written by: J Blakeson

Cast: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Chris Messina, Macon Blair, Alicia Witt, Damian Young, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Dianne Wiest, etc.

Music by: Marc Canham

**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**

Strange that this highly entertaining and acid-humoured thriller should be a Netflix release overseas, but in the U.K. released via Amazon Prime. Anyway, streaming platform aside was I Care A Lot (2020) any good? Firstly, let’s talk about genre. Do you enjoy watching films without any redeemable or essentially heroic characters? Do you enjoy spending time with criminals? Whether they are the charismatic kind like those in Goodfellas (1990) or Layercake (2004), or romantic kind in Drive (2011), or ultra-ambitious types such as Lou Bloom in neo-noir masterpiece, Nightcrawler (2014). If you do, then you will both love and hate Rosamund Pike’s confident sociopath, Marla Grayson!

J Blakeson’s razor-sharp and barb-cracking screenplay opens with Marla’s brutally honest statement of intent. She wants it all and doesn’t care who she crushes to get it. Unlike, Lou Bloom, who was on his knees broke when we meet him, Marla already has a successful, legal but morally repugnant business going on. Marla and her associate and partner, Fran (Eiza Gonzalez) run a successful ‘Guardian Angel’ corporation. Their modus operandi is to exploit the elderly and tie them up in legal knots to asset-strip their money, properties and belongings. Complicit Doctors and retirement home directors are also in on the con, while the most frightening thing is that the American justice system assists the process. If I had had a gun, I would have shot the television after forty minutes, such was my anger toward Marla and her sordid business practices. Then she inadvertently makes a fatal mistake in choosing her next mark, Dianne Wiest’s wealthy “cherry,” Jennifer Peterson. That is a rich retiree with NO relatives or children. Marla thinks it is Christmas come early – it has not!

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Without wishing to give away too much away, Peter Dinklage’s rich businessman, Roman, enters the narrative and Marla’s devious planning suddenly comes under threat. Here the film moves from spot-on satire into extremely generic territory losing the dynamism of the first half of the film. Indeed, the first hour of I Care A Lot (2020) was a fantastic critique of the care system in the USA, and no doubt across the world. In blood-boiling fashion the film tells us that getting old is extremely expensive. One can work all one’s life and then see your savings and properties ripped away by expensive health care, homes for the elderly, pharmaceutical companies jacking up their products, greedy carers and pernicious lawyers. Marla Grayson is a grinning symbol of this corrupt system and nothing will get in her way – not even Roman and his associates. This is perfectly encapsulated in a fine scene where Marla ruthlessly negotiates with Chris Messina’s slippery lawyer. But the suited shark is just the starter as Roman is now on the warpath.

Peter Dinklage again proves what a brilliant actor he is as Roman. He is extremely good at rage in many scenes. His and Marla’s ongoing battle comes to a head in the final act, and when he turns the tables on her I was so happy that she would get her comeuppance. I felt maybe the direction lost some focus in the second half of the film as J Blakeson arguably felt the audience should somehow side with Marla as she finds her life under threat. I can safely say that I wanted her to die in the most painful way possible. Because unlike the ‘Driver’ (Ryan Gosling) in Drive (2011), Marla Grayson is utterly beyond redemption. Not that she would care what anybody else thought! Overall, that’s why I found the film incredibly entertaining. It may have lost sharpness when it moved from socio-political tubthumping into more standard crime film territory, it continually made me feel proper emotion, anger mainly. Sure, it may be slightly overlong, but J Blakeson crams a lot of twists and shocks into into, I Care A Lot (2020).

Mark: 8.5 out of 11

Cinema, Reviews, YouTube Video Articles

CLASSIC FILM REVIEW – SCARFACE (1983) – YOUTUBE VIDEO

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CLASSIC FILM REVIEW – SCARFACE (1983) – YOUTUBE VIDEO

The Cinema Fix is a website for all film and TV lovers everywhere. It’s a mix of reviews, articles, essays, news and thoughts on new and classic releases. It is intended to be honest, irreverent, funny and hopefully intelligent. I also have a YouTube channel with loads of short films and video articles. Check it out here.

I have just created a new video article. It’s a review of the classic gangster film, Scarface (1983). You can read it here or check out the video below.

CREDITS

This video article is a fun and educational piece reviewing one of our favourite gangster films ever.

Written by: Paul Laight
Narrated by: Melissa Zajk
Music Produced by : Aries Beats
Promoted by : CRFC

The copyright of the images and trailers are those of the film studio. I do not own any of the images or films.

Film/Trailer clips credits:

Scarface (1983)
Directed: by Brian DePalma
Produced by: Martin Bregman
Written by: Oliver Stone.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Check out our other sites:

www.fixfilms.co.uk
www.youtube.com/c/FixFilmsLtd

Netflix, Reviews, Television

NETFLIX TV REVIEW – BETTER CALL SAUL (2020) – SEASON 5

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NETFLIX TV REVIEW – BETTER CALL SAUL (2020) – SEASON 5

Created by: Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould

Executive producer(s): Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz, Gennifer Hutchison,

Producer(s): Bob Odenkirk, Nina Jack, Diane Mercer, Robin Sweet, Gordon Smith, Jonathan Glatzer,

Directors: Bronwen Hughes, Norberto Barba, Michael Morris, Gordon Smith, Jim McKay, Melissa Bernstein, Vince Gilligan, Thomas Schnauz, Peter Gould,

Writers: Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Heather Marion, Ann Cherkis,

Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, Tony Dalton, Giancarlo Esposito, etc.

Cinematography: Arthur Albert, Marshall Adams

Production company(s): High Bridge Productions, Crystal Diner Productions, Gran Via Productions, Sony Pictures Television

Original network: AMC

UK Release: Netflix

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

“We all make our choices. And those choices, they put us on a road. Sometimes those choices seem small, but they put you on the road. You think about getting off. But eventually, you’re back on it.”
Mike Ermantraut – Better Call Saul (S5 – Episode 9)

One thought, of many, that I will take to my dying day is in regard to the business of the war on drugs. I get that people want to strive for intoxication in order to medicine themselves against the pain and struggle of everyday life. I get that humans love to get high and have a party. I get that people unfortunately get addicted to substances, so much so they turn into junkies existing only for their next fix. It may not make it right, but I get why people do drugs.

I also understand the business of making money selling drugs. The drug dealers and Cartels across the world earn a fortune farming, creating, distributing and selling narcotics. Moreover, Governments, across our civilisation, attempt yet fail, to stop them. I get all this. What I don’t understand though is when the Cartels make SO much money, and wall it up in safehouses, farms and apartments — why don’t they stop!! They have enough! Just retire. It’s a naive question, obviously. Because the money, drugs, lifestyle and power are also an addiction. It’s an insane game. It’s a bad road. It’s another indictment against the evil of humanity and our greed-driven society. Having said that the conflict with drugs and more specifically that of the Mexican drug Cartels is also providing the masses with some fine television drama.

Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler – Better Call Saul – Photo Credit: Nicole Wilder/AMC/Sony Pictures Television

Following hot on the heels of the gripping Season 3 of Cartel-driven thriller, Ozark (2020), comes Season 5 of Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s crime prequel to Breaking Bad — the brilliant, Better Call Saul. Once again, it proves itself an incredibly well written character drama, containing some of the finest acting around. I mean, some shows you watch, and they can be a struggle. But Better Call Saul is like digital silk, so smooth in its presentation. The overall style, colour scheme, imaginative camera angles and framing make the show a joy to experience. The story isn’t too bad either.

Having worked through his conflicts with his brother, Chuck (Michael McKean), in the previous sterling seasons, Jimmy McGill finally embraces the ‘Saul Goodman’ legal name and persona. In this season though, in attempting to create a niche making a living helping the lower level criminal element, Jimmy/Saul, eventually finds his legal skills being employed by the Salamanca drug Cartel. Here Saul makes decisions which drag him, and his partner, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), into a series of dangerous drug-related situations in and out of court. Indeed, episode 8, Bagman, is as good as crime drama gets in terms of narrative, conflict, characterisation and dialogue.

While Bob Odenkirk again sparkles as the cheeky ducker-and-diver-lawyer, Saul Goodman, it’s Rhee Seehorn as Kim Wexler who steals the show. The development of her character from corporate legal player to something more than a money-driven suit is fascinating. In addition, her shifting attitudes also reflect a possible adrenaline addiction to the danger that Saul’s questionable choices bring. Meanwhile, Jonathan Banks as experienced fixer, Mike Ermantraut; Giancarlo Esposito as drug boss, Gustavo Fring; and new cast member, Tony Dalton as Lalo Salamanca, all add to sheer acting charisma and talent on screen. Ultimately, the war on drugs will never be won because there is an insatiable demand for narcotics, and a more fervent demand to supply them. I’m just so happy I am very far removed from the ‘Badlands’ of the Mexican drug Cartels. No doubt after the latest season of Better Call Saul, Saul Goodman, will be feeling very much the same. After all, we are all eventually a prisoner of our own bad choices.

Mark: 9.5 out of 11

documentaries, Netflix, Television

NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: DIRTY MONEY (SEASONS 1 & 2)

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NETFLIX REVIEW: DIRTY MONEY (S1 – S2)

Directors: Alex Gibney, Jesse Moss, Erin Lee Carr, Kristi Jacobson, Brian McGinn, Fisher Stevens, Dan Krauss, Zachary Heinzerling, Daniel DiMauro, Morgan Pehme, Stephen Maing, Kyoko Miyake, Margaret Brown

Executive producer(s): Adam Del Deo, Yon Motskin, Lisa Nishimura, Stacey Offman, Jason Spingarn-Koff, Alex Gibney

Production company(s)  Jigsaw Productions

Distributor: Netflix

Do you remember that scene in The Matrix (1999)? Not the famous one where Neo (Keanu Reeves) is given the choice of taking the red pill or blue pill. Not the scene where he is told the blue pill will allow him to remain in the fabricated reality of the ‘Matrix’; whereas the red pill will let him locate his body in the real world to be “unplugged” from the ‘Matrix.’ No, I’m talking about the scene where Cypher (Joe Pantoliano) asks specifically to be sent back into the ‘Matrix’, so he can forget about the horrific nature of his reality. He’s so sick of feeling powerless and fighting against a system he cannot beat, he is prepared to sell out his comrades and go back to blissful ignorance of the alien control machine. I call this unenviable and traitorous decision, “Cypher’s Choice.” I mean, he’d taken the red pill, but the truth was so unpalatable he wanted to reverse it and live in an artifical fiction.

‘Cypher’s Choice’ is one that can face many of us who have a modicum of thought, sensitivity and understanding of the world we live in. It’s also something which struck me when watching both seasons of the superior Netflix documentary, Dirty Money (2019 – 2020). Here is a very well produced, researched and edited set of films which really make one question the very core of human behaviour. This capitalist system which we live in just continues to produce unbelievable greed, corruption and questionable, almost psychopathic, acts of abuse. More often than not the individuals, corporations and governments perpetrating these morally repugnant acts are even acting within the law, or some twisted version of it. So, does one just accept that we are living in a cesspool of greed, hypocrisy and sociopathic moneymen? Further, does one accept one is powerless to stop it? Does one take ‘Cypher’s Choice’ and head back into the ‘Matrix’? Or fight the machine? It’s an incredibly difficult decision to make.

One way of fighting back or, at the very least holding a mirror up to the corruption in the world, is a trial by media. Conversely, Dirty Money (2019 – 2020), presents a frightening, but compelling series of documentaries featuring some illuminating exposes into negative, and illegal, corporate and government practices. Netflix, to their credit, have banded together a whole host of determined documentary filmmakers including: Alex Gibney, Jesse Moss, Dan Krauss, Fisher Stevens, Erin Lee Carr, and Margaret Brown, to name a few. These twelve documentary films are carefully presented and are hugely serious programmes. While they posit a certain journalistic objectivity, and lack the personal style of say Michael Moore, Nick Broomfield and Louis Theroux, they certainly cut their targets down to size from a left-of-centre standpoint.

Personally, I believe we need to transcend agendas and opposing political viewpoints and move toward a collective humanist goal where everyone treats everyone equally. That is clearly an ideological non-starter though. However, whatever your political standpoint may be, whether you’re a gun-carrying right-winger or Marxist pinkie or libertarian Darwinist, you have to agree that the current financial systems we have are busted. They must be or we would not get documentaries alleging: criminal pay-day loan scams; the Volkswagen emission scam; a Malaysian President siphoning off tax-payer money to fund an extravagant lifestyle; HSBC money-laundering for Mexican drug cartels; nefarious landlords screwing tenants for all the money they have; price-gouging Pharmaceutical firms; and the likes of Wells Fargo Bank aggressively cross-selling and inventing customers to boost their share price.

These and many more legal and moral crimes are represented in Dirty Money (2019 – 2020) and they shock one to the core. How can people be so greedy? How can companies lie so much? Why isn’t enough ever enough? Are they sadists or even psychopaths? Why can’t they share or redistribute their wealth? Why are they hellbent on destroying the Earth we live in? Why do some people constantly lie and steal from others? Why do they deny they have done anything wrong? And am I part of the problem living in this world and doing nothing to change it? Finally, these documentaries truly make you question whether you want to be part of this world. Does one look away though; swallow that blue pill again and take ‘Cypher’s Choice’? It’s probably way easier to do exactly that. Thankfully, though there are many out their battling the system and seeking justice for the wrongs that have been done. Long may the fight continue. It’s not ending anytime soon.

Cinema, Classic Film Reviews

CLASSIC FILM REVIEW: SCARFACE (1983)

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CLASSIC FILM REVIEW: SCARFACE (1983)

Directed by: Brian DePalma

Produced by: Martin Bregman

Screenplay by: Oliver Stone

Cast: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Loggia, F. Murry Abraham, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Paul Shenar etc.

Music: Giorgio Moroder

Cinematography: John A. Alonzo

*** CONTAINS SPOILERS ***

“I always tell the truth, even when I lie! so, say good night to the bad guy!” Tony Montana

While Al Pacino is rightly lauded in the critically acclaimed Godfather Trilogy, as quietly menacing Michael Corleone, I think his spectacular performance as Tony Montana in Scarface (1983), is nothing short of cinematic gold. Tony Montana is a monstrous symbol of 1980’s excess and neo-capitalism. A product of social deprivation and cold war division. In this world, greed is not just good, but a driving force behind an evil empire which believes the extreme is only halfway. Tony Montana is small in size but big on gesture, colour and voice, both an anti-hero and villain for the eighties era. Moreover, for me, Tony Montana is the most iconic gangster ever committed to celluloid.

With a combustible screenplay written by Oliver Stone, Scarface (1983), is a cocaine driven and incendiary viewing experience. Stone himself is reported to have been battling cocaine addiction while writing it and this shows in the over-the-top world on screen. Everything is ramped up to eleven, including: the violence, shouting, swearing, shooting, politicking, drug-taking, sex, killing, avarice, money-making and corruption. There isn’t one redeemable character in the whole film. Everyone is corrupt. Actually, Tony’s mother tries her best to stay away from the darkness that follows Tony. His sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) seems pure, but is ultimately drawn into Tony’s incestuous glue, precipitated by her dangerous liaison with Manny (Steven Bauer).

“In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.” – Tony Montana

How 'Scarface' Transformed the Way Cubans Were Perceived in the US

Directed with operatic and kinetic power by Brian DePalma, I have to say that Scarface (1983) is probably my favourite gangster film of all time. That isn’t to say it’s the best. That is Scorsese’s masterpiece Goodfellas (1990). But I just love this film because DePalma and Stone and Pacino revel in excess, violence and tragedy. It also contains some very dark humour too. Tony Montana is horrific, but also very funny. Georgio Moroder’s brooding synthesised score pocks the Miami streets, clubs, beaches, Bolivian boltholes, and in the final hour, Tony’s fortified mansion. I love the artificial backdrops featuring palm trees and sun because their fakeness symbolises the delusory world of the characters. Indeed, even the back-projection shots used when driving add to the illusion. The characters business foundations are built on white sand, a powder which ultimately blows away in the wind.

DePalma is the best director of a cinematic set-piece since Hitchcock. That isn’t to say he’s the best director ever per se, but rather someone who just creates so many well-conceived and memorable scenes. The infamous chainsaw scene, the killing of Frank (Robert Loggia), Tony’s bitter monologue in the restaurant, and the explosive “say hello to my little friend” ending, are just a few of the jaw-dropping moments in this epic crime drama. DePalma also gets incredible performances from all the cast. Pacino obviously blows the doors off as the tough, paranoiac, angry, greedy and hyperbolic Montana. The then, mostly unknown, Michelle Pfeiffer is equally impressive as the coke-fuelled ice-queen, Elvira, who becomes Tony’s vampiric and soulless wife.

Stone’s scenery-crunching script obviously owes much to the original film version of Scarface (1932), co-written by, among others, W. R. Bennett and Ben Hecht and directed by Howard Hawks. The structure is remarkably similar charting the rise and fall of the “political refugee” from Cuba, Tony Montana. It’s a genius stroke by Stone to transplant the exodus of Cubans to America and at the same time, echo the rise of the gangster during the prohibition era of the original film. But, instead of booze, the drug of choice is cocaine. This war on drugs is bloody and unforgiving. As the money and narcotics mount up, so do the victims. Complicit with the criminals are law enforcement, South American dictators and U.S. Government officials. Stone makes many political barbs, but never preaches at the expense of the narrative. Capitalism, the law and American foreign policy has never been more ruthless than here in Scarface (1983). As the oft-seen slogan says, ‘The World is Yours’, but tragically these characters don’t live long enough to enjoy it.

“Every day above ground is a good day.” – Tony Montana

Reviews, Television

HBO TV REVIEW SUCCESSION (2019) – S2 – EASILY ONE OF THE BEST TV SHOWS OF 2019!

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SUCCESSION (2019) – SEASON 2

Created by – Jesse Armstrong

Writers – Jesse Armstrong, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Anna Jordan, Mary Laws, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy

Directors: Kevin Bray, Becky Martin, Mark Mylod, Andrij Parekh, Robert Pulcini, Matt Shakman, Shari Springer Berman

Executive Producers: Ilene S. Landress, Kevin Messick, Frank Rich, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Jesse Armstrong

Producers: Regina Heyman, Dara Schnapper

Cast: Hiam Abbass, Nicholas Braun, Brian Cox, Keiran Culkin, Peter Friedman, Natalie Gold, Holly Hunter, Danny Huston, Cherry Jones, Matthew MacFadyen, Alan Ruck, Parker Sawyers, Sarah Snook, Fisher Stevens, Jeremy Strong, Rob Yang etc.

Composer: Nicholas Britell

Original Network: HBO

**CONTAINS SEASON ONE SPOILERS**

“So, someone’s getting shit-canned. Let’s get the party started.” — Roman Roy

If you haven’t watched HBO’s Succession (2018-2019), then I urge you to do so. It is genuinely one of the best television shows of the year. You can read my review of the first season here, but it’s safe to say Season 2, now all the characters are established and plots thickened, is even nastier, funnier, scathing, backstabbing and emotionally charged.

Succession may not appeal to everyone. If you prefer your television to be safe and heart-warming, then this is the antithesis of cosy Sunday night viewing. It’s a sickening watch at times; embarrassing and cringeworthy too. These rich capitalists and media players have more money than some countries, but they are driven to crave more. They want more money and more power! This power corrupts absolutely and for them greed is not enough. They are bored gods who having destroyed lesser humans turn on each other for sport.

The second season follows directly after the events of Season One. Waystar Royco’s uber-owner, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), has withstood a power challenge from his son, Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong). He is under pressure now from external sources seeking to excavate a hostile takeover, plus he has to choose a successor to satisfy shareholders.

These situations, and Logan Roy’s attempts to buy one of his biggest media news rivals to bolster assets, initially drive the season forward. But, due to some brilliant writing, the series weaves many other story-lines into a web of twisted strands, all of which create humour, shock, grief, sadness and exhilaration. From Kendall’s attempts to recover from addiction to Siobhan’s (Sarah Snook) pursuit of power and Roman’s (Kieran Culkin) pseudo-Oedipal sexual dalliances, there’s all manner of turbulence for the Roy family. None more so than when — echoing the recent #MeToo scandals — historical sexual abuse in their Cruise Division comes to darken the company door.

HBO has spared no expense in this production, as we find ourselves in a variety of global venues including: New York, London, Dundee, Greece, Turkey and New Hampshire. Moreover, episodes structured around family get-togethers, business meetings, retreats, conferences, awards ceremonies and corporate away days are staged in beautiful and opulent locations. As the characters move from the boardroom to country houses to museums to super-yachts to beaches to trendy bars and off-Broadway theatres, you find yourself a tourist without having to leave the armchair.

Often you will get TV shows where a few characters will stand out as protagonists, but in Succession (2019), the writing, directing and acting is so good everyone stands out. It’s hard to pick whose acting is most impressive. But my favourites have to be Matthew McFadyen as Tom, the grovelling husband of Siobhan, and Jeremy Strong as Kendall. His ghostly performance, full of guilt and existential emptiness, is paralyzingly memorable. As well as the main cast, the production added a raft of incredible character actors such as Holly Hunter, Danny Huston, Fisher Stevens, Jeannie Berlin, Cherry Jones to name a few.

Ultimately, this is Shakespearean television of the highest quality. Succession (2019), is what we would get if Billy Wilder did TV. I haven’t even mentioned the incredible score by Nicholas Britell. The music soars and binds scenes of black comedy and blacker tragedy together with a searing complicity. As I said, the show may not contain the most likeable of characters, but, somehow, the writers, actors and production staff make you want to watch these monsters. Despite their wealth and venal ways, you’re compelled to rubberneck this coruscating humanity motorway pile-up presented as TV entertainment. The incredible dialogue alone makes it one of the best seasons of television I have seen in some time.

Mark: 10 out of 11

Reviews, Television

HBO TV REVIEW -SUCCESSION (2018) – SEASON 1 – BRILLIANT SATIRE ABOUT RICH AR$£HOL£$!

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HBO TV REVIEW – SUCCESSION (2018)

Created by – Jesse Armstrong

Writers – Jesse Armstrong, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Anna Jordan, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton

Directors: Adam Arkin, Miguel Arteta, S.J. Clarkson, Adam McKay, Mark Mylod, Andrij Parekh

Executive Producers: Ilene S. Landress, Kevin Messick, Franch Rich, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Jesse Armstrong

Producers: Regina Heyman, Dara Schnapper

Cast: Hiam Abbass, Nicholas Braun, Brian Cox, Keiran Culkin, Peter Friedman, Natalie Gold, Matthew MacFadyen, Alan Ruck, Parker Sawyers, Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong, Rob Yang etc.

Composer: Nicholas Britell

Original Network: HBO

**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**

“Money, money, Money! Must be funny! In a rich man’s world!” ABBA

Is it funny? In a rich man’s world? Or woman’s? Or anyone’s?

From my perspective I’ve never understood the desire for incredible wealth and power. Of course, it is great to be comfortable and have the money to feed, clothe and house yourself. But, that need and want to have extravagant things is beyond my comprehension. Obviously, if you’re born into money, it could be deemed unavoidable. Some may say it’s a curse. However, we all have choice as to how we behave whether we have money or not.

Personally speaking, I have everything I need to live. I have enough nice things. I have a car, television, mobile phone, computer, food, clothes, shoes, people I love and, at time of writing, my health. I have enough. For some enough is never enough. The extreme is only halfway. Ambition and power and wealth and greed drive them forward. Their desire for more has no limit.

Succession (2018), is another television show about the darker actions of the filthy, selfish and narcissistic rich. Similar, but far more poisonous than Showtime’s hit Billions, the narratives are driven by power games from the Machiavellian playbook. Set within a behemoth media conglomerate, Waystar Royco, led by octogenarian, Logan Roy (Brian Cox). the plots and subplots focus on the various family members and fucked-up personalities within this permanently dysfunctional family. The characters are not so much ‘Masters of the Universe’ but masters and mistresses of their own calamitous downfalls.

Is it funny though? In a rich man’s world? Well, based on Jesse Armstrong’s creation Succession (2018), it is! Unsurprisingly, from a writer who has worked on such comedy masterpieces as Peep Show, The Thick of It, Four Lions (2010) and Veep, these ten episodes contain some of the most biting and sarcastic dialogue and situations you could experience. It’s black though. It’s tumour humour. These are cancerous laughs which eat you from the inside. You’re entertained watching the programme but simultaneously aware of how accurate its’ dark vision of humanity, greed, power and family life is. No one gets out of here alive, including the audience.

The show bleeds quality from cast to production values to direction and not forgetting Nicholas Britell’s incredible score. You have to have a strong stomach to watch so many irredeemable and unlikeable characters all inhabiting the same space. But the writing is an absolute marvel with all manner of slicing one-liners which cut with scalpel like precision. The main narrative strands involve the children challenging their father’s running of the company. Watching Brian Cox viciously curse and do battle with them is drama of the weightiest kind; almost Shakespearean at times.

Lastly, I must say the acting is of the highest order. Sarah Snook, as political campaigner daughter, Siobhan, is destined for big things. British actor Matthew MacFadyen gives a nuanced comedic rendition as Siobhan’s fiancé; both sycophantic to the Roy family and a bully to company underlings. Kieran Culkin is sleazy and the most unlikeable of all, while Alan Ruck’s passive aggressive older son waltzes in and out of scenes with consummate skill.

As Logan Roy Brian Cox is well, just so Brian Cox; sweary, growling and menacing. His character locks horns most of all with second son, Kendall Roy. Portrayed exceptionally by Jeremy Strong, Kendall is a sad figure, attempting recovery from drug addiction, but cursed to desire to lead his fathers’ company. This leads to him making some incredibly dubious decisions. Because enough is never enough and that is the tragedy. In Succession, it is far from funny in a rich man’s world. It is sick, twisted and ultimately very black.

Mark: 9.5 out of 11

Reviews, Television

BILLIONS (SEASON 4) – TV REVIEW – MORE MACHIAVELLIAN TV MAYHEM!

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BILLIONS (SEASON 4) – SHOWTIME TV REVIEW

Created by: Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Andrew Ross Sorkin

Writers: Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Lenore Zion, Michael Russell Gunn, Adam R. Perlman, Alice O’Neill etc.

Directors: Colin Bucksey, Adam Bernstein, Neil Burger, Matthew McLoota, Jessica Yu, Laurie Collyer, Naomi Geraghty

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Maggie Siff, Malin Åkerman, Toby Leonard Moore, David Costabile, Condola Rashād, Asia Kate Dillon, Jeffrey DeMunn, John Malkovich, Kelly Aucoin, Stephen Kunken, Nina Arianda, Kevin Pollak, Clancy Brown etc.

Distributor: Showtime Network

**CONTAIN SPOILERS of BILLIONS – SEASONS 1 – 3**

One of the great sober pleasures in life and culture is finding a great television show and digging into it from the start. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing catch-up binges of programmes I missed first time. Indeed, I recently just finished imbibing seven mercurial seasons of the amazing Mad Men. Yet, having watched it from the outset, Billions, has now become a high priority watch for me every year.

Season 4 once again delivers all that I want from my Billions fixation. If you haven’t seen it then it is essentially about spoilt, rich narcissists at the higher echelons of American justice and business trying to destroy each other. The first three seasons found Paul Giamatti’s legal demon battling Damian Lewis’ financial titan. It’s good old fashioned revenge drama, with a reliance on proper plotting, sharp dialogue and an amazing ensemble cast.

The latest season begins with amazingly, Chuck and Bobby, enjoying a kind of peace, assisting each other against various foes. All the same themes are in place with greed and power destroying love and trust, except, if I’m not mistaken, the narrative beats are even faster-paced and brutal. Amidst the back-stabbing dramatics though the writers do find some time for wicked humour; especially in the very funny episodes, Chickentown and American Champion.

But the main reason for watching is to experience these corporate and legal vipers bite each others faces off. Indeed, the devious plots that are set in motion are quite breath-taking. The writing is as twisted as a corkscrew plunged into the forehead. Moreover, the cast just relish playing these characters with Lewis, Giamatti, Maggie Siff and David “Wags” Constabile regularly stealing scenes from each other.

As Bobby’s 4 nemesis, Taylor Mason, Asia Kate Dillon was also brilliant. The sub-plot involving her fathers’ (Kevin Pollak) start-up technology firm was especially strong, proving that mixing family and business relationships are doomed in this world. I’d also say Chuck’s battle with Attorney General Jock Jeffcoate (Clancy Brown), was arguably a major highlight of a very strong season. Perhaps John Malkovich’s Russian Oligarch could have been given more to do, but overall, the Machiavellian machinations of Billions had me gripped from start to finish. It was, literally, the absolute business!

Mark: 9.5 out of 11

New Releases, Reviews, Television

IN PRAISE OF BBC’S LINE OF DUTY + SEASON 5 – TV REVIEW

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BBC’S LINE OF DUTY & SEASON 5 REVIEW

Created and Written by Jed Mercurio

Directors (Season 5): John Strickland and Sue Tully

Cast (Season 5): Taj Atwal, Martin Compston, Adrian Dunbar, Stephen Graham, Anna Maxwell Martin, Vicky McClure, Rochenda Sandall, Polly Walker etc.

I was slightly late to the Line of Duty corrupt police drama party. Thankfully, I caught up with it by watching the first four seasons on Netflix. The fifth season has just completed a run over the last six weeks on BBC1 and thoroughly thrilling it was too. Creator and writer Mercurio is a bulletproof show-runner; a genre writer with a proven hit rate whose work almost always brings commercial, critical and audience success.

Having achieved early TV writing acclaim with dark medical comedy, Cardiac Arrest (1994-1996), Mercurio’s subsequent drama Bodies (2004 – 2005) was another critical hit. Latterly, Bodyguard (2018) and Line of Duty (2012 – present) have also proved highly successful. Undeniably, Line of Duty is a massive hit for the BBC. It has received awards and nominations from: the Royal TV Society, the Writers’ Guild and BAFTA. Moreover, it was also voted in the top BBC shows of all time. Therefore, after the success of Season 4 on BBC1, Season 5 was awaited with great anticipation.

THE LANGUAGE OF LINE OF DUTY

If you haven’t seen Line of Duty then it is highly recommended as quality genre storytelling. Over five seasons it has received much media attention and a strong fan following. It’s also fun looking out for the tropes, genre expections and language built into the classic cop drama. So, a game of Line of Duty bingo would certainly include:

  • AC12’s lead characters: DS Steve Arnott, DI Kate Fleming and Superintendent Ted Hastings will be committed to nicking bent coppers.
  • Massive and unexpected plot twists.
  • Untimely deaths of major characters.
  • Police Officers being bigger criminals than actual crooks.
  • The main antagonist will likely be revealed early on to the audience like an episode of Columbo.
  • Brilliantly written and lengthy police interview scenes often dominate whole episodes.
  • The main antagonist can at any time be superseded by a bigger antagonist like an episode of ‘24‘.
  • Main antagonists will be played by well known actors such as: Lennie James, Keeley Hawes, Daniel Mays and Thandie Newton.
  • Minor sub-plots will often blow up into being the main plot.
  • Red herrings galore with misdirection and cliff-hanger writing tricks becoming legion.
  • Line of Duty language and catchphrases have become culturally familiar including: “Fella”; “Mother of God”; “Bent Coppers”; and my favourite: “DCI. . . has the right to be questioned by an officer at least one rank senior.”
  • Fantastic hard-boiled one-liners and dialogue that Raymond Chandler would be proud of.

I could go on but I can highly recommend all five seasons of the show. While it exists within the police drama genre the lead characters are well written. Not simply basic binary heroes, they are complicated humans, yet highly determined and professional. The plots are serpentine and often become very complex, threatening to swallow their own tail at times. Nonetheless, if Alfred Hitchcock created a long running crime drama then Line of Duty would be it.

LINE OF DUTY – SEASON 5 REVIEW (WITH MINOR SPOILERS)

Season 5 began with an all action and breathless opening couple of episodes. Yet, by the end it transformed into a claustrophobic, theatrical and tense police interview showdown. While Season 4 found Thandie Newton desperately trying to evade capture using her intelligence and guile, Season 5 was more explosive. Opening with a pulsating robbery, with an OCG (Organised Crime Group), raiding a police vehicle convoy carrying confiscated drugs and weapons; AC12 were soon hunting armed robbers and investigating the death of several Police Officers.

The head of the crime gang is, or so we think, John Clayton. He is portrayed by fine character actor, Stephen Graham. It soon turns out Clayton is not what he seems and is playing a very dangerous game as an undercover cop. But, is Clayton still undercover or has he gone rogue? Clayton’s gang are not to be crossed and their boss is an anonymous high-ranking corrupt Police Officer referred to only as ‘H’. They communicate via computer text software, thus creating a fog of invisibility and suspicion.

As the various plot strands ravel and unravel further robberies and murders occur, with Mercurio creating a series of tense stand-offs and action set-pieces. The stakes get higher and higher until our very own Ted Hastings becomes number one suspect in the chase for ‘H’. Adrian Dunbar as Hastings is especially brilliant in this season. His character finds his whole life and history turned upside down and in freefall. I mean, could this beloved character be the arch-nemesis? The conflict created by Mercurio is totally absorbing until the very final reveal.

Overall, one could argue that Season 5 goes too far to attempt to out do the previous seasons. However, I loved both the complexity and familiarity of what I was watching. The action, suspense, twists, doubt, shocks and ‘whodunit’ plot were played to perfection. We also got a bit of characterisation amidst the heavy plotting as we found out about: Hastings’ history in Northern Ireland; Fleming’s family issues; and the impact of Arnott’s spinal injury (from a violent attack in Season 4). We also got some new characters such as the formidable DCS Carmichael featuring a stand-out performance from Anna Maxwell Martin.

Ultimately, this is a cops and robbers show which plays the numbers very well. Furthermore, like a game of bingo you never know the order the numbers will come out, who’ll win or lose and whether the game is, in fact, rigged so no one really profits in the end.

Mark: 9 out of 11